Method of applying covers to containers



v April 16, 1929- v. c. sNYDE METHOD 0F PPLYING COVERS T0 CONTAINERSFiled Feb. 16, 1926 llllUt/I/ n Patented Apr. lr6, 1929.

' UNITED STATES VERNON CHARLES SNYDER,

METHOD 0F APPLYING Application filed February This invention relates tometal cans or containers of that typewhich have a body proper and acup-shaped cover frictionally held in place but which is removablewithout injury to the container.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved method of applyinga friction cover of the above mentioned type to the can body so that amore effective Seal is obtained when the cover is in place, the methodbeing an inexpensive and expeditious one which requires apparatus of anextremely simple nature.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig.vl is a vertical section of a container whose cover has been applied bythe improved method.

Fig. 2 is a partial section showing one of the steps in the method ofapplying the cover to the body of the can;

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section showing another step in the methodof applying the cover to the body of the can;

Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section illustrating the use of a gasketbetween the cover and the body of the can, and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal transverse section illustrat-ing a modificationof the invention.

In Fig. l which represents a container after the cover has been appliedthereto by the improved method, the body of the container is shown at 1and the cup-shaped cover is shown at 2. The upper edge portion of thebody of the can may be crimped or folded upon itself as shown at 3, andthe peripheral edge of 'the cover may also be crimped or folded uponitself as shown at 4. The folded over portions 3 and 4 reinforce theedges of the can body and the cover respectively and constituteshoulders which are sufficiently rigid to facilitate opening of the canby inserting a suitable implement between the shoulders and prying thecover from the can body. The

body of the can has a circular groove 8 forming an inwardly extendingprojection which engages in a corresponding groove or recess 9 formed inthe adjacent vertical wall of the cover. These grooves cause the coverYto be more firmly locked in place than if they were absent and theiruse results in a more effective seal. However, they do not prevent thecover from being pried 0E in the manner that is customary with frictioncovers. These grooves are formed in the cover and in the body of the canby the improved method now to be described.

When it is desired to apply the cover to the y1,709,196 PATENT OFFICE.

OF GLEN ROCK, NEW JERSEY.

COVERS TO CONTAINERS.

16, 1926. Serial No. 88,557.

can body, as for insteance after the can has been filled with thecommodity it is intended io contain, the cover is positioned in place inany suitable 'type of machine and a chuck shown at 5 (Figs: 2, and 3) isinserted in the cover and forces the cover in place. The lower edge ofthe chuck 5 is provided with a clearance 6. A roller 7 which mayconstitute a part of the assembling machine, is then pressed against thebody of the can immediately above the bottom of the cover 2. The rolleris then bodily rotated about the can, or the can is rotated about itsown axis in such a way as to produce a circumferential groove 8 in thewall of the can and a corresponding groove or recess 9 in the adjacentvertical wall of the cover. The pressure ap.

plied by the roller 7 is in a direction which 1s substantially parallelwith the plane of the cover bottom. The cover bottom is thereforecapable of resisting the inward pressure of the roller and when themetal is defiected by the roller to form the grooves 8 and 9 the outeredge l() of the cover bottom and ta'he shoulder 11 on the chuck will actas fulcrums so that the metal between these points will assume the shapeof the periphery of the roller. During the act of forming the groovesthe chuck opposes inward pressure in a zone spaced from the bottom ofthe cover. This zone'may be considered as a narrow zone occupied by theperipheral shoulder 11 or the zone extending upwardly from the shoulderto the top of the container. The chuck does not oppose inward pressureat any point below this zone otherwise the chuck would have to becallapsible in order to remove it. Preferably the periphery of theroller is so shaped as to make the grooves substantially semicircular incross section. After the cover has been applied in this manner the chuck5 is withdrawn and the can is removed from the machine. The formation ofthe groove 8 inthe outer surface of the wall of the can body produces aninwardly extending proj ection on the innersurface of the wall. Thisprojection engages in the circumferential groove or recess formed in thevertical wall of the cover and thereby locks the latter in place` Thecomplete can with the cover applied in the manner above described isshown in Fig. l. This method of applying the cover to the can bodyproduces a container which is air tight, or very nearly so, and thecover is firmly locked in place, but, nevertheless, it may be removed inthe Same manner as the ordinary friction cover by inserting a suitableimplement between the shoulders 3 and 4 and prying the cover olf. In sodoingl neither the cover nor the can body are 1n- ]ured or damaged andthe cover may be re,

placed if desired.

In some instances it may'be desirable to insert a gasket between thecover and the can body before the cover is applied. This is illustratedin Fig. 4 wherein a gasket for this purpose is represented at 12. Thegasket may be of any suitable material such as paper, rubber or thelikey and it is preferably so shaped that a horizontal portion of it maybe gripped'between the shoulders 3 and 4, and a vertical portion of itmay be gripped between the vertical wall of the cover and the adjacentportion of the can body. When the cover is forced into the can thatportion of the gasket which lies between the shoulders 3 and 4 iscompressed or pinched as represented at 13, and when the circumferentialgroove is formed in the can body and the vertical wall of the cover, theportion of the gasket between the deformed portion of the can body andthe deformed portion of the cover is pinched or compressed asrepresented at 14. This insures a double seal, one at 13 and the otherat 14.

If desired the circumferentiall grooves which lock the cover in placeand produce the seal need not extend entirely around the container. Asshown in Fig. 5 instead of continuous circumferential grooves, aplurality of indentations 15 may be formed in the can body and in theadjacent wall of the cover. These indentations may be formed in a mannersimilar to that described above except that the roller will have one ormore projections thereon to form the indentations. These indentationsare spaced apart circumferentially of the container as shown in Fig. 5and any number may be employed. They will answer the purpose where theseal need not have as high a degree of efliciency as the seal describedabove. Even though this type of cover-locking means may not afford athoroughly air tight seal it may advantageously be used on cans ofcertain types merely because of its locking characteristic. Forinstance, when used for paint, syrup and the like the container willprove superior to containers of the .l friction cover type heretoforeemployed for this purpose because the cover will be firmly locked inlace during shipment. The circumferential length of the indentationsshown in Fig. 5 may vary from that of mere indentations at single pointsas shown in Fig. 5, to indentations of considerable circumferentiallength depending upon the degree of locking and sealing that isrequired. It will now be seen that the improved method employed forgrooving or'indenting the can body and the cover is a simple and ex"-peditious one involving the use of mechanism of a simple and inexpensivecharacter. By utilizing the bottom of the cover as one fulcrum duringthe formation of the grooves, a simple chuck of a non-collapsiblecharacter may be employed, and this greatly simplilies and cheapens theprocess.

I claim:

1. The method of applying a cup-shaped metal cover to a metal containerwhich comprises inserting said cover in one end of saidV spaced fromthebottom of the cover but not at any points below said zone, and indentingthe side wall of said container and the side wall of said 'cover bypressure applied inwardly toward the central axis of the containerbetween said zone and the bottom of the cover to form an inwardlyextending projection on said container fitting into a correspondingdepression in said cover, whereby during the act of indentingthelcontainer the bottom of the cover forms a lower fulcrum for theindentation and the chuck provides an upper fulcrum for the indentationthus permitting the use of a non-collapsible chuck.

2. The method of applying a cup-shaped metal cover to a metal containerwhich c omprises inserting said cover in one end of said container,inserting a chuck in the cover adapted to oppose inward pressure in azone spaced from the bottom of the cover but not at any points bel'owsaid zone, and forming a circular groove in the side Wall of saidcontainer and the side wall of said cover by pressure applied inwardlytoward the central axis of the container between said zone and thebottom of the cover to form an inwardly extending rib on the containerfitting into a corresponding groove in said cover, whereby during theact of grooving ,the container the bottom of the cover forms a lowerfulcrum for the groove and the chuck provides an upper fulcrum for thegroove thus permitting the use of a non-collapsible chuck.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

VERNON CHARLES SNYDER.

